


Last Goodbye

by arthurmorgan-s-heart (Silverblind)



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Angst, Death, Gender-neutral Reader, Major Spoilers, Other, Spoilers, headcanons, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 10:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16659367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverblind/pseuds/arthurmorgan-s-heart
Summary: *SPOILERS*SPOILERS*Headcanons for Reader's last moments with Arthur





	Last Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request fill from my tumblr blog. Uploaded here for convenience - find me on tumblr - arthurmorgan-s-heart
> 
> Original request text: "Don't imagine reader laying with Arthur during his final moments. Don't imagine their last kiss and him smiling his last smile at them. Don't imagine when his breathing stops, reader is shakily cupping his face and rubbing his jaw, sobbing and stealing one more kiss. Don't imagine them knowing he's gone but unable to stop stroking his face and hair and begging him not go. Honestly just played myself cause I'm crying"

  * Arthur had told you to run with Sadie and Abigail, but you won’t have it
  * Once you’re sure they’re safely on their way, you turn back
  * You ride hard until you reach the camp
  * Your blood freezes in your veins at the sight of the bodies that lay strewn everywhere -  _Pinkertons_
  * You see Miss Grimshaw laying there as well, but when you get to her side, she’s already cold
  * You look everywhere, but to your relief, Arthur isn’t amongst the dead
  * You can hear gunfire in the distance. You climb back onto your horse and rush toward it
  * The gunfire starts to fade as you get closer. You hear men struggling for their last breath as you ride by, but you hardly spare them a glance
  * You come upon two dead horses; one of them is Arthur’s - his beloved white mare -, the other John’s
  * Tears start to stream down your face as you press on
  * You keep thinking that maybe you can find him before it’s too late - that the two of you still have a chance to escape if only you can  _find_  him quickly enough
  * You follow the trail of bodies - the slope soon becomes too steep, and you jump off your horse to climb on foot
  * You can hear voices up ahead - they fill you with rage:  _Dutch and Micah_
  * By the time you get to the top, they are both gone
  * But  _Arthur_ is there
  * Half-alive, he barely seems to realise you’re there until you’re kneeling next to him, cradling his face in your hands
  * “Arthur? Arthur, darlin’, you hear me?”
  * His breathing is too laboured for him to speak - he tries to say your name, but he can only wheeze out a strangled cough
  * “Come on, Arthur, it’s okay, I found you, everything’ll be okay now.” You stroke his battered face as you say the words, and you almost wish you could believe them
  * But looking at him lying there - broken and -  _yes_  - dying, all the hope you might have had left leaves you for good
  * The sun is peeking over the moutains in the distance as you lay down next to him, wiping the blood from his face as best you can before resting your head on his shoulder
  * His eyes - his gorgeous green eyes, always so warm and kind - are already veiled with the haze of death, but he sees you -  _he sees you_
  * He raises a shaking hand and caresses you cheek, wiping your tears away with his thumb. His fingers are as cold as ice. You turn your head and kiss his palm
  * “I love you, darlin’, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have been here. I love you, please, don’t leave me, stay with me, stay with me…” You know your pleas are useless, but the words spill from your lips on their own
  * You kiss his forehead, his cheek, his lips - his eyes flutter closed, his breathing slows
  * You run the fingers of one hand through his hair - his favourite thing - and rest the other on his chest. His hand comes up to clasp yours, squeezing tight with the last of his strength
  * You can feel his breath weakening until it’s nothing but a whisper - and then -
  * The sun rises, but you don’t notice
  * You don’t know how long you lie there next to him - minutes? Hours?  _Days?_
  * But eventually you push yourself off the ground and - mindlessly - go get a shovel from your saddle and start digging
  * You dig and dig and dig and  _dig_ , until your palms are raw and bloody - but you don’t stop until you’re done
  * You hear the sound of a horse coming toward you just as you’re climbing out of the hole, and you snap out of your haze for a moment, drawing your gun and taking cover as you try to guess who it could be - Pinkertons? Dutch? Micah?
  * The horse and its rider finally appear, and you recognise them immediately
  * Charles is as surprised to see you as you are him
  * “News reached me, up in Wapiti,” he explains. “A message from Sadie and following a few rumours was enough to lead me here.”
  * “I need to bury him.” “I’ll help you.”
  * For some  _goddamn_ reason, you almost refuse
  * But in the end, you bury Arthur together
  * When you’re done, you plant a simple wooden cross over the grave, carved with his name - he deserves something more, you know he does, but you don’t have the strength to think about it right now.
  * “What are you gonna do?” Charles’ voice sounds so far away. You can’t tear your eyes from the fresh dirt that covers the man you love.
  * “I don’t know. We both died here, Charles - him  _and_ me. Ain’t nothing left for me no more.”




End file.
